TEDxBangalore set for a October 4 landing

Wildlife photographer Rohit Varma dwells on idea behind his TEDx talk

Ideas, refreshing in content and presentation, had lent TEDxBangalore an aura of uniqueness last year. Thinkers, visionaries and doers had deeply engaged audiences with their inspiring thoughts.

On October 4, the event, themed “All or Nothing” returns with a rich mix of speakers, presenting pioneering concepts from space en­tr­ep­reneurship to wildlife photography, funk rock to digital recreation. 

His camera clearly focussed on conservation, wildlife photographer Rohit Varma is one TEDx speaker with a visual edge. Armed with a repertoire of pictures captured in the wild, Varma will drive home his point at the show: That “Wildlife needs marketing.” The big idea is to inject a real sense of conservation with photography as a potent medium.

In conversation with Deccan Herald, the shutterbug in Varma steps back to compose the big picture, one that is passionately in love with nature, the animals, big and small. “When it comes to conservation, we always pass the buck. But as individuals, do we contribute? When I talk about wildlife photography with a conservation angle, somebody somewhere will at least stop throwing plastic!”

Varma explains, “In most sanctuaries, you don’t have an information centre. Why not provide data on forest ecology, animal variety, dos and don’ts of tourism. Even if a small section of people follow these, it would make a vast difference. All these are doable small things”

Varma refrains from the oft-trodden path of chasing wild cats, and that is a deliberate choice. “I am not fixated with photographing tigers and other big cats. I prefer to shoot their habitat. I like to spend time, sink into the environs and then capture life through my Canon 5D Mark2 camera,” he explains.

Spending hours in the dark to grab that fleeting glimpse of a snake or a frog, Varma learnt to appreciate the value of patience. “Nature teaches you that, it has a purpose,” he says. Beyond the obvious subject, the final product for this shutterbug is also about composition, whatever the device. And, that includes the ubiquitous smartphone cameras! “You shoot, you improvise. It is not about the equipment, it is the image. In any case, I am happy about mobile photography, particularly if they start shooting wildlife and nature with a conservation focus. They then become my target audience!”